Mention It All - RHONY Rewind Ep. 8: The Reunion

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

All good things must come to an end, and Dylan finishes off the RHONY season 1 rewatch journey with a thorough analysis of the (one-part!) reunion. From Alex and Simon’s complaints about the edit to Luann and Ramona’s questionable excuses for their behavior, it’s a walk down the memory lane of RHONY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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See Store Online for details. Betches Media presents. Ha ha, laugh, funny. Mention It All, a Bravo by Betches podcast. We don't say that, but now we said it. With me, Dylan Hafer. We're going to check me, Bill. Hey, everyone.

Welcome back to the Mention It All podcast, and welcome to the final installment for now of the Rony Rewind Journey. Today, it's all about episode eight of season one. of the real housewives of New York City. It is a, as Andy calls it, a real housewives of New York. Watch what happens special from the Russian tea room in Midtown Manhattan. Oh boy. I forgot what it was like to have a simple one part, 44 minute, just easy. chill reunion. There's no receipts. There's no, there's barely any yelling. There was,

you know, Ramona did walk off the stage at one point. There were no glam teams. There were no, we're not seeing people in their trailers. We're not seeing Andy come to the dressing rooms when they're getting ready. No, there was a time when these reunions were so formal. So buttoned up. And they really, it is fascinating to think about over the last 15 years now we're talking, 15 plus, how the construct of the reunion has shifted. Because now if the reunion started with everybody sitting on stage and Andy going, welcome to the whatever whatever reunion of Real Hospitalies of whatever

and we never saw somebody getting up to go to the bathroom we never saw somebody getting their glam touched up or you know walking off the set and then they're in the hallway and then they're screaming in the dressing rooms it would really it's really such a different experience and we've had more fourth wall breakage on the actual shows over the years of course too but specifically in the reunions, it feels like they've sort of, they've done away with the idea that this is kind of like a polished like television special. And instead, it really is more of a 360, I don't know,

experience. So, so going back to 2008, we're in the Russian tea room on this little set with these two little couches. The couches used to be so small. it's like if you are a watcher or even a dip a toe iner of the view, if you go back and watch clips from even a few, you know, five, six, seven years ago, and then you go back all the way to the beginning in the 90s, the table that they used to sit around on the view was like literally somebody's kitchen table. they had five or six women crammed at these tables in the early seasons of the view. They've got their coffee mugs. They've got their notes, their cue cards, their whatnot. I don't know all the props they use on the view. They were sitting on top of each other.

And then, you know, the table gradually grew a little bit. It expanded. It started to feel like a real set piece. And then I think COVID sort of accelerated. the idea of the comically large almost set piece so that everybody can sit, if not six feet away, at least in their own little space. And we saw the same thing with the Housewives reunions. Thinking back to that, you know, tragic Rony reunion at Ohika Castle on Long Island where they're in their armchairs across the room from each other. Of course, we've recondensed a little bit since then.

We're back on couches for the most part. Everybody, is within earshot of each other. But it is funny to see how they used to just get two couches and a chair for Andy. And yeah, that's all you need. Jill can, you know, haul ass from uptown in her blazer and her Team Jill T-shirt. I actually was, I forgot about the Team Jill T-shirt. And then the first few minutes of the reunion, I had. it on. I was, you know, I was listening. I was taking notes. I was, you know, probably

answering an email or something. Sometimes the focus on these things. It's not always a hundred percent. But I looked up and Jill was like flaunting the t-shirt and it really took me out for a second. The bedazzled team Jill. And I guess they were selling them on bravoTV.com and 10% of the proceeds was going to charity. Now that's that's selfless. I would really, really love to know how many of these Team Jill, team Bethany,

team whatever T-shirts they sold and how much money was donated to charity. If you are listening to this and you were working at Bravo in 2008 or maybe working out the charity that allegedly some of this money was given to, hit me up because I would love to know the economics of that because while it is great that Jill was rocking her Team Jill t-shirt,

I don't know how many people really were going to purchase that for. What must it have cost? $24.99? What's the inflation math of, or deflation, I guess? Because I feel like it would be like $40 now. What was $40 in $2023 in 2008? dollars. Inflation is crazy. You know, the other day I went to Starbucks. I was seeing a play in the evening and I was a little peckish, a little tired. So I was like, I want a little bit of

caffeine and a little bit of a snack. I went to a Starbucks. Granted, this was in the theater district in New York. I think it was like a hotel lobby Starbucks technically. So I don't know if the prices are like extra, extra inflated. I got a strawberry. assaye refresher and a slice of the pumpkin papita loaf. $16.16 for like four bites of food and a little drink that I sucked down in five minutes. I, we can't keep going in this direction. Soon that Team Jill T-shirt is going to be a hundred bucks. We can't be doing that.

I can't be shelling out, you know, fancy t-shirt money on a Jill t-shirt. I don't know. Things are not going in a good direction. But, you know, the reunion, honestly, I was pleasantly surprised how engaging this reunion episode was. Considering that I felt much of the actual season was a little bit snoozy, this season had ups and downs for sure, and I feel like each episode kind of had at least one piece that I found really entertaining to rewatch. But overall, I didn't think it necessarily held up as a whole.

I think it left a lot to be desired, and I think watching it with the knowledge of everything that came after, I think it suffered for that because I think there were things that, to me, are just standard on housewives that this was missing because it didn't exist yet. But it's hard. You can't, you can't unknow what you know because you already know it. And so to know it, it makes it hard. I think Aristotle said that. Or maybe Socrates, you know, if you're...

Socrates, Socrates said that if you're used to a group scene every episode, then when the girlies don't get together, it feels like something's missing. That's philosophy. But no, the reunion is pretty good. I love, they're so new to this. And Andy's asking if anything, if seeing anything about their fellow housewives on the show, shocked them. This is the very first thing we're talking about.

And Ramona immediately says she was shocked by Alex and Simon's living conditions. And how they're, you know, they're so meticulous with all their stuff and when they're in the world and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But then you see in their house and aren't you worried about your children? They could have an accident. The lead paint. And it's so, first of all, like, yes.

We get it. Alex and Simon's house is a little bit of a disaster. But the way she's like, aren't you scared your little, adorable child is going to suck on some lead paint and have an accident. It's like Ramona. Ramona. Easy. We get it. But Luann agrees that it was a little scary to see. But she says, hats off to you for allowing the film crew to come. It is so fucking patronizing. It's like, it's like, oh, like, good for you. That was so brave of you to show off that, that, um, ugly ass house. Bethany tells Alex, she's all show and no go.

and that she has the most expensive coat and then her kids are living in a house that's a little bit shocking. Louana's like, I don't know, maybe before you're shopping at Roberto Cavali, you should finish the house. These women, they really go in on Alex. Because, of course, then we have the whole conversation

about the social climiness of Alex and Simon, which I'm pretty sure almost every episode I've remarked on because it's it's very present in the season that is kind of their whole deal and Alex and Alex of course is at this reunion for part of it they take issue with how they were portrayed and with the edit and when they saw the first episodes they weren't very happy and you know they don't care so much about those things and when when Alex said that he could say a little twinkle, twinkle, little star in Latin, it was a joke. And Bethany's like, no, it literally wasn't.

And she's like, Jill's like, when you open the society page and you're, you know, freaking out who does that? It's so gauche to talk about money and X, Y, Z. Look, I think this season would have been pretty boring without Alex and Simon. But at the same time, I think it's kind of comical that they're coming on this reunion and being like, well, it made us look shallow and social climbing. And that's just not who we are. and it's like, my loves, the footage is the footage.

Maybe there was more, but you still said what you said. And Simon is very into that idea of like, oh, well, you know, we captured so much footage and they only showed this thing and they cut out the other thing. And it's like, right. That always happens. That's the nature of filming a show. We got seven 45 minute episodes. But you can't, they can't put words in your mouth. And, you know, this is a 15-year running commentary of blaming things on the edit.

But in this case, it's like Alex and Simon realizing that they look like social climbing assholes. And then their gut reaction to that being like, well, we weren't serious. Well, that's not what's important to us. It's like, I mean, maybe other things are also important to you. But you can't act like those things. didn't come out of your mouth and that you're not, you know, going to the opera to get your kid into a better school to rub some shoulders and to end up on the society pages. I am so frustrated thinking about this season of Ultimate Girls trip that Alex McCord attended, that we are maybe

possibly, I don't, are we seeing that season ever? Rewatching this Rony season. That is, is kind of my biggest takeaway that Alex McCord is so rare in the pantheon of Housewives. There is nobody else that is even a little bit like her. And to think that we are going to see her so many years later dropped into this crazy thing, I just want to see it. And I don't, you know, they haven't said one way or the other, whether that season of girls' trip is going to be aired. We know it's not going to be until 2024 at the earliest.

But I don't know. I just, I want to know what she's up to. I want to know how the vibes are. I want to know if she's picked up any of an Australian accent, living down. I was going to say over there, but down there. Yeah, I would like that update on Alex McCord. And I hope we get it.

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Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of. tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Ramona, you know, also in fine form, she, um, the topic of the girls' night, that of course Simon attended.

So she says that her reason for leaving early was that she had a sick family member, and that's why she left early. But then she gets called out on that. So she said that her family member was sick, so she left to go be with her girlfriends. But then she gets called out on that because she was already with a different group of girlfriends.

So then she says that she actually left because Jill didn't tell her that Simon was going to be there, and she felt set up. And it's like, Ramona truly has never once changed. The fact that she has cascading layers of reasons and excuses and explanations and clarifications for this.

It's like, babe, just, it is so funny that she can't just own that one, one little thing. That's like, yeah, I wanted to leave. I wanted to get the fuck out of there. And then she's, and then just, I was like, well, you ripped into my guest.

And she's like, I didn't rip into him. I simply questioned why he was there. Ramona, the OG alternative facts queen. She's like, no, I just told him, you know, if there's a dinner party and I didn't know who's going to be there, then why wouldn't it be upset? I love it. I also love the explanation of whether they think they're socialites. and how Luann feels about being the countess. And obviously she told Bethany not to introduce her to the driver as Luann.

And she's like, oh, well, this is one of those moments where Luan, she's like a girl's girl. She's like a fun time. But there are certain moments where I think this was she, I don't think she liked how this came across. And so she was deflecting a little bit and sort of explaining, well, she's like, I don't, I don't ask anyone to call me countess. but, you know, Noel would know to refer to someone as like, Mrs or Mr. and like, I would never, I have never, I don't know, uh, did he try to shake my hand? I didn't see that. Again, I think it shows that all of these women are so new to this arena because there are

most of the disagreements or, you know, rough spots in this reunion come down to if one person was just willing to be like, yeah, I own that, that was a asshole thing for me to do, or like I shouldn't have done that, or that wasn't how I intended it. Like, all of these issues kind of just go away. It's like if Alex is like, yeah, we kind of were social climbing. We wanted to get our kid into school. Or Ramona's like, yeah, I was an asshole. I left the dinner party because I didn't want to see Simon.

Or if Lou Ann was like, yeah, yeah, it was shitty for me to say that to the driver. But it has to be couched in this like, well, you know, it's, you know, I raise my kids also. She's saying that she wouldn't, part of the reason she had that reaction to the drivers, because that's how she was raised. Luan. Luan was not raised in any kind of aristocracy or, you know, European nobility or royal, whatever the fuck. Luann is just another girl from New England

who, you know, learned to speak French and spent some time living there and met a guy and married him. Like, her being like, I wasn't raised that way is so hilarious. Because it's like, all of these women were more or less raised in the same, like, setting. I mean, they're all from the same part of the country. you know, some of them were wealthier than others, but it's like, what? What? I wasn't, I was raised that way. Where were you raised? In Connecticut? In New York? Like, I don't think we're out here being like, don't tell the driver to speak to me. I don't know. It is Luann's journey really is wild. But, um, I don't know. I do like, the moment when Simon comes out, the way that, Jill in particular just can't deal with Alex wanting Simon there. And of course now having husbands attend a reunion is not a novel concept. Sometimes it happens.

Sometimes it doesn't. Some shows employ it more than others. I mean, obviously Roney has never been a show that particularly centered the husbands. it's not like a New Jersey or even a Potomac or Miami or even Salt Lake. It's probably the least husband-dependent franchise. Maybe OC is kind of in that basket a little bit too. Maybe Atlanta in certain seasons. I don't know.

But it is funny. I mean, it's just like Simon just like wants to be with the girls. He wants to hang out. I do, probably my favorite moment of the reunion is when Alex is like, has anyone asked me if I have regrets when they're talking about her, you know, the stuff she said about being social climbing. And so it's like, okay, do you have regrets? Okay. I'll ask. I have no regrets.

That is such stunt queen behavior. where it's like, aren't you going to ask me if I want anything? It's like, okay, do you want anything? It's like, no, I love that. I love that energy. It's so, it's so dramatic for no reason. It's just, it hits. Alex also gets asked about her nude photos that she took years ago when she was pregnant or something.

And Ramona gets up and marches off the stage. She says she has to go to the bathroom. The jail clarifies that she doesn't want to be on the stage when they're talking about the nude photos because she thinks it's inappropriate for the real hostages of New York to be associated with nude photos. And, wow, if only they could know how far we've come. Nude photos, who cares? We're doing only fans. We're cheating left and right.

We've got scandals. We're going to jail. People are in prison. A couple of nude photos. Please, that's amateur hour. I have had fun with this season of Roney. It's been a roller coaster. There's been ups, there's been downs.

There's been lots of fun, forgotten moments. I am, we're going to take a little break from these Friday episodes, but hopefully we'll be doing something else fun toward the end of the year. So let me know if you have other seasons, other shows, other ideas of things you would like to hear. Obviously, there's going to be a lot on the schedule in the next few months. But we want to have some fun. still keep it fresh. So let me know if you have anything that you've been dying to hear. And

you know, maybe, maybe we'll take your inspiration. But in the meantime, we'll be off Monday for the holiday. So we'll be back with another episode on Wednesday. Don't forget to rate review and follow the show wherever you listen. You can follow us on Instagram at Bravo by Betches. And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool. Mention It All is produced by Dylan Hafer, Sean Kilby, Jorge Morales Pico and Rebecca Sous McCatt. Editing by Jorge Morales Pico. Social media by Dylan Hafer, guest booking by Dylan Hafer and Ali Friedlander. Be sure to follow at Bravo by Betches on Instagram and Twitter. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars.

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